


Special Doesn't Even Begin to Cover It

by Adariall



Series: Redefining Normal [1]
Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Anders and Ty are clueless bastards, Domestication, Established Relationship, Everyone Finds Out, Fluff and Angst, Gaia is surprisingly zen, M/M, Mike is Mike, Past Abuse, Sibling Incest, There is not enough alcohol or porn in the world to help Colin forget
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-26
Updated: 2013-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-09 14:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/775152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adariall/pseuds/Adariall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Anders and Ty were caught being surprisingly domestic by others while not realizing it, and the one time they were smacked in the face with just how domesticated they've actually become.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mike

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AndreaLyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndreaLyn/gifts).



"What?" Anders answered his phone with a snap, still glaring openly at Mike. They'd been arguing for the better part of an hour and he was more than ready to just be done with the whole thing.

"Thanks for the fantastic greeting, Anders. I'm fine, how are you?"

"Oh fuck off," he rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve the tension he felt there. "What do you want?"

"Aside from sex? Cereal and milk. We're out of both." There was rummaging in the background as he spoke.

"Fine, got it. Pick up cereal and milk. I'll do it on the way home."

"Good. Now what the hell is going on?" The rummaging sounds stopped and Anders heard the cupboard door shutting.

"Not now."

There was a long pause before Ty spoke again. "Mike's there, isn't he?"

"Hit the nail on the head." Anders sighed tiredly.

"All right then. Try not to kill him, or provoke him to kill you. I like you alive and not in lock up."

"You and me both." Anders closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on Ty instead of their infuriating older brother. "Is there anything else that we're out of or low on?"

"Uh, lube? And you can pick up ice cream if you remember."

Anders chuckled softly. "I can do that. I'll see you when I'm done here then."

"Excellent. I'm going to go for a run, so I might not be there, but I will be back soon."

"Right. Try not to get hit by a car." Anders grinned to himself as he ended the call without another word- sometimes it was just too much fun to leave Ty hanging. He was still grinning when he looked up and caught Mike's gaze.

"What? Have I got something on my face?"

Curiosity was evident on Mike's face as he eyed him strangely. "What in the hell was that about?"

"That was Ty, letting me know that I need to pick up a few things at the shops."

Mike's eyebrows seemed to disappear into his hairline. "Ty? As in our brother Ty? Why was he asking you to go shopping for him?"

"Because we're sharing his house now?" Anders sighed as he reached out to grab the beer he'd retrieved earlier from the bar top.

"When the hell did you two start playing house?" Mike stared at him incredulously. "No one told me about this."

Rolling his eyes, Anders sighed. "What what business of it is yours if I share a place with Ty? He's my brother too. We don't have to tell you what we're doing all the time."

"I know he is, and I'm not saying that you have to either." He leaned heavily on the bar. "I just am slightly confused by the fact that you and your brother are suddenly acting like some sort of strange, domesticated body snatched versions of yourselves."

"We're acting like two people who are sharing a house." Anders kept his eyes trained on his brother as he drained the remaining beer from the bottle. When he finished, he placed it back on the counter and wiped his mouth before nodding at Mike. "And this thing that we're doing right now? It's done. I have much more important items on my agenda than standing here in an empty bar, arguing with you."

"Like what?"

"Like getting this shopping out of the way so Ty doesn't throw a complete tantrum when there's nothing for breakfast in the morning." Anders snorted and shook his head. "Good bye, Mike. You know where to find me if you find that you have something actually useful to say."

Mike stared at Anders as he all but stormed out of the bar and shook his head. Just when he thought that their family couldn't get more fucked up, something new always seemed to come along just to prove him wrong.


	2. Dawn

When Dawn had come back to the office from lunch, she was more than slightly frustrated to see that Anders had not touched a single one of the folders that she'd left for him on his desk. Instead he was sprawled back in his chair, his feet propped up on his desk as he thumbed through some flashy tabloid.

"Anders, what do you think you're doing." She sighed loudly as she dropped her purse on the table that sat across from Anders' own desk.

He looked up, grinning slightly. "I'm taking sometime to broaden my horizons."

"You're reading a trashy tabloid, how is that broadening your horizons?"

"It's giving me ideas on how we can expand our client base." Anders' grin only widened and he was clearly proud of himself.

Dawn shook her head and leaned forward so that her hands were braced on the table top. "You should stop thinking about how you can expand your client base right now and focus more on keeping those that you have. Something which you can start by taking care of the files that have been sitting on your desk for the past twenty four hours."

"I am, and I will." He promised her, his voice suddenly sounding much softer to her ears as he tossed the tabloid to the side. "You need to stop worrying so much."

Slowly her anger gave way to frustration and she pressed her lips together tightly. Lecturing Anders would not help her case in the slightest, but she could at least try to make him take the situation seriously. She opened her mouth to speak but as she did the office door opened with a loud click behind her and she was forced to turn her attention away from the task at hand. As she peered over her shoulder she was relieved when she saw that it was not some angry client making their presence known, instead it was only Ty.

"Hello," she greeted him flatly.

"Hey Dawn." Ty's voice was tired as he wandered across the office toward his brother's desk.

She nodded at him once as he passed by her before she turned her attention back to Anders once more. "I'm telling you that you need to get these files taken care of or else I'm going to have to deal with more angry clients, and quite frankly right now I haven't the nerves for that."

"Just deal with it, Andy." Ty looked exhausted as he shoved Anders' feet off of his desk, and indeed his exhaustion was made all too clear by his use of his brother's childhood nickname. Without another word he dropped onto the newly vacated spot before sliding to the side so that he was facing his brother.

"Okay, okay." He raised his hands in defeat. "I'll take care of it. You don't have to worry about anything, it's all under control."

Dawn watched distractedly as Anders lift his legs and promptly deposited them in Ty's lap in an obviously familiar gesture, something which threw her off far more than she cared to admit. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Don't worry." Anders repeated for her, smiling slightly. "Everything will be fine, you have nothing to be concerned about at all."

She nodded absently as she watched Ty's hand wrap around one of Anders' slim ankle, his thumb moving in slow circles against the small sliver of exposed skin at the top of his socks. It looked like he belonged there with him, and that was more than slightly disconcerting.

"Why don't you leave a little early, hmm?" Anders suggested as he grabbed one of the folders off of the desk. "Treat yourself to some nice spa treatment or something like that."

"I don't have time for that. There's still some calls I need to make, and I need to have those files couriered out as soon as you're done with them."

"Dawn, breathe." He dropped the files into his lap and sighed softly. "I'm sending you out now. I've got everything under control and you are going to go out and enjoy yourself. Besides, I've got Ty here, he'll make sure I get everything done, won't you Ty?"

"Mmhmm." Ty squeezed Anders' ankle lightly.

"There you have it. Now off you go." Anders gestured toward the door with one hand. "Don't even think about coming back until tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes as she realized that it wasn't worth fighting him any further. Once Anders set his mind on something, there was no distracting him. "Fine. But if you lose another client because of this, I won't forgive you."

"You have nothing to worry about." He reassured her.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Dawn muttered to herself as she grabbed her purse from the table. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Right. See you then." Anders waved at her as she moved to leave. "And do me a favour and lock the door on your way out? The less distractions the better."

Dawn nodded once as confusion began to set in, but that seemed to be becoming increasingly normal. As the office door clicked shut behind her, she stood just outside of view of the interior for several moments longer. There was soft murmuring between the brothers and then there was silence. She stared hard at the glass, her mind attempting to put the pieces together and as realization flooded through her she jerked back away from the office. She had to be wrong, she thought as she swallowed hard. The Johnsons were probably the least functional family that she'd ever met, but incest? That was taking it a bit far. She shook her head hard and concentrated on walking out of the building. As she locked the outer door she glanced down the hall once more and forced herself to abandon those thoughts because if she didn't? There was no way she would be able to look Anders or Ty in the eye ever again.


	3. Ingrid

It was late when Ingrid finally let herself into the house. She'd been out with Olaf at the beach, commiserating over their lives as oracles and enjoying some of the weed he'd brought along with him. She hadn't expected anyone to be awake when she returned, but as she stepped inside she could see that there were lights on throughout the house and there was the lower murmur of voices that let her know that the television was on. She dropped her bag on the floor by the door and kicked off her shoes before she made her way further into the house. She could see that the counter was littered with the remains of a meal, plates and cutlery scattered about. Without looking into the living room she sighed and headed straight for the kitchen, rolling her sleeves up as she went.

Ty wasn't the messiest of men so for the most part it stayed clean, however he'd obviously had company that evening and that meant that there were dishes. Aside from that, the kitchen was incredibly easy to tidy. She had the garbage collected in no time, and the dishes that could be placed in the dishwasher were sorted from the pots and pans. It was when she managed to get the sink filled with water (half covering herself in water and soap in the process) that she finally looked up and when she did she was shocked.

"Oh my." Ingrid gasped softly as took in the scene that she had found in the living room. Ty and Anders were curled up together, stretched out across the sofa as the light from whatever was still playing on the television cast shadows across their faces. They were dead to the world and even above all the other noise in the house she could hear Ty's soft snores. She couldn't help but grin in delight at the pair and her eyes lit up. She'd not ever seen any of the Johnson siblings appear so comfortable and so at ease and it made her far happier than she could ever put into words. She leaned forward against the counter and watched them silently, content to be an observer.

Ty nuzzled closer to Anders, instinctively tucking his head under his brother's chin and in response Anders mumbled softly into his hair. It was an incredibly sweet gesture and Ingrid found that, to her embarrassment, her eyes were burning. She'd not been around much happiness in the past years so to see two boys whom she adored finally finding some sort of peace made her heart sing. She continued to watch them silently for some time more and as she did so it became more and more apparent that their position on the couch was very familiar.

"Oh my sweet boys," she murmured softly. "You deserve all the love in the world."

There was quiet mumbling from the sofa and in his sleep Anders slid a hand under the bottom of Ty's shirt to rest against the small of his back. Ty let out a soft, contented sigh in response and tightened his grip around his brother's waist and relaxed completely against his chest.

"Let's make sure that you boys sleep well." Ingrid pushed herself away from the counter and dried her hands on her skirts.

With great care, she crept out of the kitchen and back toward Ty's room. She was grateful to see that the door was already open and without looking back she stepped inside and hurried toward his bed. She carefully pulled the blanket off of the top of his bed and as silently as she could she made her way back to the couch with it in her arms. She draped it over them with a soft smile and tucked it around their shoulders. Once she was certain that they would be warm enough she turned off the television before making her around and shutting off the lights around the house. It was only once the house was dark that she finally headed toward her own bedroom, more than ready to bed down for the night.

As she shut her door behind her she closed her eyes and smiled softly her thoughts drifting back to the two boys in the living room. They may not have thought that they were completely obvious, she could see right through them. She didn't care that they were brothers and that they had a relationship that clearly went far beyond the bonds of brotherhood, all that she cared about was that they were happy. They deserved to be happy.


	4. Gaia

The lobby of the cinema was full of people milling about. There were groups waiting for a showing to begin, and others lined up at the concession stand. It was movie night, one of Zeb's inventions, but Gaia had to admit that it wasn't really a bad idea. It got them all out for a time, and more often than not they were able to agree on something. Their choice for that particular month had been the re-release of a movie they'd all seen as children. It was a good compromise and Gaia knew that both Axl and Zeb would actually keep their mouths shut for a change. They'd made their way to the cinema without much fuss and paid for their tickets before heading on into the lobby. Gaia wasn't surprised to see the long lines in front of the concession stand but it didn't mean she was happy.

"Whose turn is it to stand in the line?" She asked.

"Not me!" Both Zeb and Axl replied almost in unison, an act that had slowly been perfected over time.

Gaia snorted as she crossed her arms against her chest. "I did it last time, so guess what? It's one of you two."

"But Gaia-" Zeb began to whine, but he was quickly cut off by Axl slapping a hand over his mouth.

"I'll do it, but I'm not paying for anyone else. You all pay for your own."

Zeb nodded rapidly before holding out his wallet to Axl. "Deal."

Gaia couldn't help but grin as she followed Zeb's example. While the boys could be frustrating at times, they also tended to provide more than a little amusement. Without saying a word, she shooed him towards the line before she took a spot off to the side with Zeb. She kept her eyes trained on Axl, her grin not straying from her face as she watched him shift from side to side as he waited in the line, but suddenly the swaying stopped and she saw him turning to look at someone.

"Ty?" Axl's voice was full of surprise as he saw his older brother standing in front of the sweets display.

Ty spun around and his eyes widened as he caught sight of Axl. "Axl. What in the world are you doing here?"

"Seeing a movie of course." Zeb bounced up on his toes. "It's movie night."

Gaia smiled and waved from behind Axl. "Hello, Ty."

"What are you going to see?" Leaning into his brother's space, Axl nudged him with a grin. "Got a date?"

Ty let out a laugh that Gaia noted sounded incredibly awkward. "No, no date. Just here with Anders to see that new Bond movie."

"Anders is here?" Axl pipped up. "Where?"

"Getting popcorn, drinks, that sort of thing." Shrugging, Ty glanced at the counter and smiled slightly when he caught sight of his brother.

Axl snorted. "He isn't making you buy your own?"

"No," Ty shook his head. "When we go out he tends to insist on paying for everything."

Gaia shook herself internally. With the way that Ty had behaved she would almost be tempted to say that he was on a date, but that was impossible, he was there with Anders. Selfish, asshole, Anders.

"What? You're joking." Axl laughed.

Ty laughed that awkward laugh again. "Nope, I'm serious."

Elbowing his brother teasingly, Axl smirked. "Who did you have to blow to get him to agree to that?"

Gaia could see the slight pause in Ty's movements, but her thoughts were interrupted as Anders slid into her line of sight.

"I leave you alone for what, two minutes, and you wander off like some child let off their leash." Anders barely concealed a sly grin. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Wow, I love your descriptions of me. They're so flattering." Ty rolled his eyes. "Now give me some of that before you drop it."

Anders shook his head. "No. I bought it, I'm going to carry it. As I said before we left, tonight is on me."

"That doesn't mean you have to carry everything." Ty protested.

Raising an eyebrow, Anders smirked. "Yes it does. Now shut your gob before I find something to shut it with."

Gaia stared at the two brothers and all at once realized exactly what was going on. Her eyes flickered over to her own companions and she saw that Axl was snickering at his brothers like it was the most normal thing in the world and Zeb was off in, well, Zeb land. How in the world could they be missing what was right in front of them, she wondered with some confusion. She wasn't exactly certain which pair confused her more- the ones who were oblivious to what was going on right in front of them, or the couple in question. Before she could allow her mind to wander any further, she was suddenly startled by a sudden barking laugh from Anders.

"Come on," Anders leaned back and kicked Ty's arse playfully. "I want to get to my seat and get comfortable before this movie starts."

Ty snorted. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. Wouldn't want you to miss your beloved Bond."

"Hey, if you don't want to be here I can give your snacks to Axl and his friends. I'm sure they'd appreciate them."

Axl perked up at that. "You know, we really wouldn't mind."

Rolling his eyes, Anders shook his head. "Yeah, I know you wouldn't, but you're an adult, Axl. You're the big kahuna as you so often like to remind all of us. I'm sure you can pay for your own snacks."

Gaia covered her mouth as she ducked her head, hiding her face from her companions. They were so utterly clueless, the whole lot of them.

"But-"

"No buts, Axl. Buy your own snacks." Anders tone took a disturbingly parental turn. "On that note, we're leaving."

Ty moved to take something from Anders' arms, but his brother pulled away. "At least let me take something." He protested.

"You can grab the straws and napkins, I can carry the rest. Lads, Gaia," he smirked at them. "Have a great night, enjoy your show. Don't do anything that I wouldn't do."

"Ignore him, be good." Ty rolled his eyes as he gave his brother a shove away from the rest of the group. "You're such an ass sometimes."

Anders chuckled and bumped into Ty's side. "I'm not an ass, but I am awesome."

"Okay, that was weird." Axl looked between Gaia and his brothers as they continued to argue even as they slowly walked away from them. "Anyone else know what that was about?"

Zeb shrugged. "Hell if I know. But come on, I want chocolate and popcorn before the movie starts. Which is going to be soon."

"You always think with your stomach." Snorting, Axl got back into the line. "Gaia, do you still want something"

At the sound of her name, Gaia looked away from the pair that she had been watching and caught the questioning gaze that Axl had levelled at her. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Food. Drink. Do you still want it?"

"Yeah, a coke would be great." Gaia nodded absently before she turned her attention back toward Axl's brothers. The boys may not have noticed how Axl's brothers were around each other, but she did. She wasn't blind and she wasn't stupid. She supposed that it should have been disturbing, two brothers together like that, but it wasn't. Happiness was hard to come by, especially in the world that the Johnson family lived in, and she couldn't find any fault with their choosing to hold onto it when they found it.


	5. Colin

There was no one that Colin hated more in the world than fucking Tyrone Johnson. He hated his face and the fact that he was alive. He actually hated the entire Johnson family, but that was beside the point. He'd not expected to see the all too familiar sight of Ty's work van pulling into a parking space next to the grocer that sat at the corner of the road. He'd expected even less to see Anders pop out of the car the moment it came to a stop. He could hear them bickering over something and he realized that if he wasn't caught, it would be a perfect chance to try and gather some sort of information on the family.

He watched from a distance as the pair grabbed one of the carts from the front of the shop before they headed in. He couldn't shake the feeling there was something that he could learn if he just followed them for long enough and it was with that thought in mind that he trailed behind them, watching with a deep set frown as they made their way through the market.  
It seemed to be a normal trip. They fought over the fresh fruits and veg before moving onto breads and cakes- something which Anders was apparently rather fond of. They made their way down the pasta aisle, stocking up on both pasta and sauces before moving on to where Colin very vividly remembered that most of the school snacks were. He kept far enough behind so that he couldn't be seen, but he could hear their arguing even from a distance.

"No, we are not getting fruit gummy snacks." Anders grabbed the box that Ty had plucked from the shelves out of his hand and shoved it back onto a random shelf. “Maybe if you were a child, but from experience I can say that you are not one.”

Ty in response reached back onto the shelf and picked up yet another box of the snacks. "They're my choice of late night snack, and I bring them to work with me, so you are going to shut up and let me buy them."

"You are such an idiot."

Colin rolled his eyes and muttered to himself as he snuck around another corner. He watched as they walked down the aisle side by side, tossing a seemingly random collection of items into the cart. He was fairly certain that he saw a box of condoms leave the shelf in Ty's hand before it landed in the top basket of the cart and he couldn't stop the sudden feeling of realization that crept over him. A realization that was seemingly confirmed when Anders' only response was to chuckle and roll past his brother using the cart as some sort of scooter as he grinned childishly.

"I swear, Anders. Sometimes I don't even know why you bother shopping with me."

"Because a man cannot survive upon salads and fruit alone." Anders came to a stop at the end of the aisle before he looked down at his watch and frowned deeply.

"What time to you have, Ty?"

Ty pulled his phone out of his back pocket before he looked back up at his brother. "It's half past one. Why?"

Grabbing a large bottle of something that Colin didn’t care to think about off of the top shelf, Anders tossed it into the cart without looking and sighed. "Okay, one more aisle and then we're done. I have to get back to work before Dawn decides that it's a good idea to murder me and wear my skin as a rather stylish coat."

Ty sighed and shoved his brother out of the way before he took the cart handle himself. "Fine. We can finish the rest later. I think we only have the freezer to fill after this."

"And the fridge with some form of animal flesh." Anders sat on the edge of the cart and gestured for Ty to continue pushing it along.

They made their way to the biscuit aisle and Anders face lit up almost like a child's would as they wheeled along the tile floors. "Stop!" He threw his hands up and reached out to grab the edge of the shelf. 

"Oh my god, what are you, three?" Ty rest his elbows on the edge of the cart and buried his face in his hands.

"No, you arse. And if I was three that would make you a criminal, so shut up and let me pick up what I wanted from here." Anders remained seated at the edge of the cart as he reached out and grabbed what amounted to an armful of biscuit packages.

"You try and keep me from buying those fruit snacks, which I might add actually have fruit in them, and then you go and buy what? Six bags of Oreos?" Ty grabbed one of the bags from Anders before he shook it in his face. "First of all, you have a problem and secondly? You're a hypocrite."

"I do not, and yeah, okay, maybe I am." He yanked the bag from his brother's hands before dropping it back in the cart. "I just don't like running out. Now come on, push us to the front so we can get out of here."  
Ty rolled his eyes and tossed something at the back of his brother's head, but he continued to push him, a soft, incredibly fond smile crossing his features.

That smile wasn't anything that Colin had ever seen on his face in all of the time his daughter had spent married to the stupid boy. He looked genuinely happy and that stopped Colin in his tracks. He stood at the back of the shop, feeling incredibly confused. He'd never seen a more strangely domestic pair in his entire life and yet they didn't seem to have a clue as to the fact. It was disturbing, and all at once he felt the urge to settle back at home with a very large bottle of wine and porn- anything to get THAT particular image out of his mind. Fucking Johnsons.


	6. Ty and Anders

"Hey, have you seen that file that Stacey's been sending around?" Ty leaned over Anders' shoulder, his hands resting on the back of the chair lightly.

Anders couldn't help but roll his eyes as he glanced up at his brother."No Tyrone, I haven't. Because unlike some people, I've been working today."

Ty snorted and easily pulled Anders' chair back away from his desk so he could reach the keyboard. "You can handle taking a two minute break to watch this thing. According to Ingrid it's interesting." 

"Well, if Ingrid says something is interesting then we obviously have to watch it." The sarcasm in Anders' voice was almost palpable. 

"Stop being such a dick and just fucking watch it, okay?" Ty plopped into his brother's lap unceremoniously, and if his elbows happened to dig into Anders' ribs a little on the way down, well, it was clearly an accident. 

"Fine, if watching it will get you off my back and let me get back to work so I can actually be on time for dinner tonight, then play the damn thing."

Ty rolled his eyes as he leaned forward and pulled up the video. It was easy to find as he'd sent the link to Anders before he'd left the house. Once it had downloaded he settled back and resized the video before he hit play. It was shaky footage, obviously taken by a hand held camera and Ty couldn't help but snort. The Goddesses sometimes came up with the strangest plans, but then again he didn't exactly have room to talk. He shook his head and forced his attention back to the screen. There was some footage of Mike and Olaf at the bar and then Axl with his friends. It was interspersed with Stacey's mutterings and the occasional screech of a car as she biked around it, nearly causing an accident. But then it changed. He saw himself on the screen and then moments later Anders wandered into the frame. He remembered the day clearly as he saw the footage from it; Anders had been with Mike had the bar, bitching about something or another and when he'd come back to the house his arms had been filled with groceries. 

"Wait," Anders hit the space bar and paused the video mid-frame. "Is that us?"

Ty stared at the screen intently. After several long moments had passed, he looked away and slumped back in Anders' lap. "It is," he confirmed, voice curiously flat.   
"That is without a doubt us."

Tightening his grip around his brother's waist, Anders frowned deeply as he rest his chin against Ty's shoulder. "I'm of two minds about this. Firstly, how the hell did we both miss Stacey creeping around us like some deranged cat in heat? And secondly," Anders paused for a moment before he continued. "Are we really that..."

"Domestic?" Ty glanced over his shoulder, dark eyes wide.

"Yeah, that- that would be the word."

"Maybe we were so caught up in being us that we didn't notice her stalking us?" Ty offered.

Anders dug his chin into his brother's shoulder and nodded his head once. "Maybe."

They lapsed into silence as Ty reached out and hit the space bar once more to start the playback. He realized as he watched the footage switch from the outside of his house to the sidewalk in front of Anders' office that they had entered new territory without even realizing it; a fact which was driven home as he saw Anders tug him down into a startlingly sweet kiss. The easy effortless affection displaced on the screen should have been a surprise, but it wasn't and that itself was an odd sensation.

He was startled from his own thoughts as he felt Anders' beard scratch against his neck before he sighed softly. "As strange as this is to say, and I mean it is really way the fuck out there, I think we just managed to beat Mike and the whole damn family for that matter at having the most normal and yet the most fucked up relationship all at once."

Ty couldn't help but laugh at how utterly befuddled Anders sounded. His brother was usually the most confidant out of the entire family, so to see the sudden shift was not something he would forget.

"Shut your mouth." Anders nipped at his brother's shoulder pointedly. "I think I'm allowed to take a moment to let this all sink in."

"Fine, take your moment, but let me know when it's over so I can laugh at you."

"Yeah, fine." Anders rubbed at the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Just explain this to me. In our whole fucked up family, how the hell did we end up with this normal of a relationship? I mean come on, we're Gods, Ty. And we're brothers. Yet here we are, acting like adults who are in a stable relationship, and are not related."

"Yes we are." Ty agreed.

"When the hell did that happen?" Anders voice rose slightly as his fingers dug into Ty's stomach. "And how the hell did it happen? We had quite possibly the worst examples in the history of the world for how to be a functional adult in an equally functional relationship. We basically lived an after school special for the first decade and a half of our lives, and suddenly we're here."

Ty found that all of the mirth that he had previously felt dried up at his brother's words. Sometimes the years between them seemed like they didn't exist, but at others, Ty would see the difference written clearly across his brother's face and it felt as if they were separated by some unfathomable divide. After Mike had left, when their parents had been at their very worst, he knew Anders had taken the brunt of everything. Anders had protected him and Axl, making sure that they were safe from every last bit of harm that their parents, especially their father had thrown at them. He'd been at ground zero for every harsh word, every blow, and that wasn't something that would just fade away.

"How the hell did we get here?" Anders' voice was suddenly small and something inside Ty's chest broke as he knew exactly what had caused that change.

"We just did." With a soft sigh, Ty settled back against Anders' chest and slid his hands over his brother's arms as he heard the breath hitch in his chest with every breath that he took. "Anders, what I need you to do right now is breathe." He rested his cheek against his brother's temple as his spoke. "Shut that lovely mouth of yours and just focus on breathing."

Anders took a shuddering breath and nodded once before he leaned forward and rest his head against Ty's back. The trembling in his body slowly began to ebb and little by little he began to relax against his brother.

"This is us. No one else. We weren't forced into something that we didn't want; we aren't doing this to please anyone. We are together because we want to be." Ty kept his voice level and he moved his fingers in slow lines along Ander's arms. 

Anders nodded slowly and flattened his hands against Ty's stomach. "We are." 

"So we're domestic. At least we can say that we have the ability to function in a relationship, unlike some people in our family." Ty kept his voice purposefully light as he attempted to calm the storm he knew was occurring in his brother’s mind. "We're not even trying and apparently we're doing things right. For the Johnsons I think that's a first."

"I think you're right about that." The tired chuckle that emerged from Anders was rough, but he smiled slightly against Ty’s shoulder.

"Now come on," Ty braced his hands on the edge of the desk and carefully slid off of Anders' lap. "You and I had a nice dinner planned for tonight and I think we can get away with actually calling it a date this time." He turned around and smiled warmly at his brother.

"We can, can't we?" Voice soft, Anders looked up at Ty, unabashed fondness shining through his eyes. 

"Mmhmm. And that means that for once, you're going to let me pay for it."

Anders scoffed and slid his hands along the inside of Ty's thighs as he stood from his chair. "You would be wrong, Tyrone. When we go out for dinner, I pay. We're not changing that tradition now."

"Like hell." Ty wrapped his legs around Anders' hips and tugged him forward until their chests were pressed together. "If this is a relationship, you're going to let me pay for things for a change."

"Come on, Ty. Don't fight me on this." Anders all but whined.

Ty slid his fingers up through his brother's hair and smirked. "No. I fully plan on fighting you on this one and you’re going to let me win."

Anders leaned forward and kissed him one last time as he grumbled quietly. "Can I at least choose the restaurant?"

"Yes you can." Ty chuckled before he lowered his legs and got to his feet once more. "Now come on. Get that fantastic ass of yours dressed and ready to go. We've got relationship standards to live up to now."

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE thanks to my girls- my Ori, Fee, and Nori, for being so amazing while I was working on this fic. They put up with so much fretting and asking for opinions and I love them so much. *HUGS* THANK YOU!


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